TIFU by trying to be a decent human being and lost $230 in the process

This happened on Sunday morning just been. I had just left a bar in town and as I walking to get some food to end the night I saw a very drunk young man barely able to stand against a fence with some girls talking to him. I got pulled over to the group by the girls to have explained to me that he had lost his phone and had no way home.

Having been in this situation myself once before I thought I would help out and shout the guy an Uber home. I got the guy to order and Uber home and helped him in once the car had arrived then carried on to get my food.

The next morning I woke up and decided to check my Uber app to see how much the trip had cost me and found that I had been charged $80 as his house must've been out of the Uber zone plus another $150 for the passenger having thrown up in the car.

You were a more than decent and you did a solid for him. The $230 sucks but it is what it is. You should contact Uber and let them know the rider wasn’t you and you did a solid for a drunk guy. They might help on the cost and they should remove the ding.

It is a solid favour, but there’s no way Uber or the driver will absorb the cost of that one. Of course, some drivers just put on a surcharge every time they pick up someone drunk who won’t remember...

It's happened to me. Thankfully the driver was a fucking idiot and used a photo he found on the internet that wasn't even of his make / model vehicle. Took me about 5 seconds to notice that and send pictures of the actual vehicles back seat to the CSR, who then escalated the complaint. Had my money back the next day.

But if they weren't a moron, didn't make a habit out of it and picked their victims wisely I'm sure people can and do get away with it.

I'm saying that a shady uber driver in San Fransisco lied to the company and said I threw up in their backseat, when I absolutely did not. We were on vacation, I was absolutely hammered, but my gf doesn't drink at all and was totally sober. So even if I had been unable to remember, she would have. Uber driver couldn't have known that though, as she didn't open her mouth at all on the ride back to the hotel while I drunkenly chatted away with the driver (who was being super nice, btw. Was totally fucking shocked he turned out to be a two-faced bitch) about all the different craft breweries and bars I had hit that night.

But they fucked up when they filed the complaint with uber, who then assessed me a cleaning fee after the fact, and sent a picture they had obviously found on the internet of a completely different make / model vehicles backseat covered in vomit. When I noticed the extra charge, I asked uber what the charge was for and when they explained I had vomited I explained that was nonsense. After arguing a bit, I asked what proof they had. They sent me an email of the photo they received from the driver. I could tell right away that the make / model weren't the same, so I sent some photos (also from the internet, but directly from promotional materials from Honda for their 2017 models) showing that the backseat was completely different from the one I rode in (and listed on the drivers account).

The CSR obviously couldn't just take my word for it, so I'm assuming when she escalated the complaint someone higher up looked into it further. Possibly asking for pictures of the cleaned backseat from the driver, confirming the differences? I really can't be sure. But it was ridiculously obvious from looking at the literally thousands of review videos / articles for the vehicle I rode in that the picture of the vomit wasn't from the 2017 Honda Civic the driver used.

All I know is that I got an email apologizing for the "mistake" the very next day and a refund applied directly to my PayPal balance.

No he is saying that an Uber driver tried to scam him by claiming the op threw up in his car. Uber requires a picture of the damage to grant the uber driver this type of extra charge for clean-up/damage repair. So unscrupulous uber drivers provide fake photos to uber. The OP noticed the uber
driver's puke damage photo was fake, appealed to uber. and got his money back.

It’s happened to me, but I recognize my driver might have been a particular asshole. At first he didn’t pick me up for like half an hour because obviously he didn’t want to drive to where I wanted to go (out of the city). He just kept circling a random block hoping I’d cancel. But I had nothing better to do and I’m petty so I just waited until he finally showed up.

I complained to him and Uber immediately and Uber refunded my trip. I thought that was that until I get an email saying the driver claims I threw up and also damaged his headlight (lol). I tell Uber about my situation again and show them my previous emails to them. Fortunately they apologized and told me they would take action against that driver. Hopefully he’s no longer on the streets. Fuck that guy.

It's not a button it's more like a list of options that you have to go through with driver support and then you have to go through a bunch of back-and-forth emails in order to get them to give you the full amount because they try to lowball the cleaning fee however since if it is real vomit and not a scam it really is worth that much to get your car cleaned properly though people do likely use it on those they think won't

This happened to me earlier this year. Was on holiday in Miami and had a fair afternoon at a pub before catching an Uber back to my accom. Had a merry ol’ chat to the driver and got home safe and sound.

Woke up the next morning to go out and had a maybe US$80 fee for cleaning for apparently spilling a drink in the car. While I was a bit pissy I certainly wasn’t drunk enough not to remember what happened and knew I didn’t have a drink on me.

I complained straight to Uber who initially took his side, and provided photos of the alleged spill. I went in hard saying they had no proof that it was me, that they had not done any assessment of the matter and had charged me purely on the basis of an incorrect claim and likely fraudulent activity. I said I’d lost faith in the organization and would be contesting the charge with my credit card company. I had no idea that this might be a regular occurrence at the time.

Uber then immediately apologized and reversed the charge. I was happy they did but the whole
Experience left me pretty annoyed.

It would suck to be uber or the driver in those situations. In all fairness, most, if not all of those cleanups are he-said, she-said. Based on stories I've heard, the uber drivers don't take pictures of you in the car along with the vomit, so there is no way to truly verify anybody puked in the car.

For example, Uber receive requests for a car, and despatch a car to my location, take payment and keep track of which drivers are driving and where. That is identical to what a "private hire" company does here in the UK. And they are known as "taxis". Legally they may not be, but to the layperson they are.

Rideshare as defined by Uber and lobbied into law by most state gov'ts is that "Hey, you are going to the store? I want to go to the store, can I chip in for some gas money". It is a legal fiction, we all know exactly what it is, but this is the extent of what it is in most laws. And Uber pretty much wrote the laws, handed them to the highest paid asshole, and they passed it.

Agree, fuck this mindset. It was his idea to put an unknown dude that clearly doesn't have his shit together into a car without any knowledge of who this person was. It's irresponsible on all parties aside from the driver, who doesn't deserve to have his car trashed by the people that did this to him. Not saying OP was asking for a way out of this, but if there are people that would try, that's stupid. Uber and the driver owe nothing here, (again not aimed at OP) make better decisions if you don't like the outcome.

Exactly. My cousin doesn't stop using hard drugs because he still has food and a roof over his head when he doesn't have money to get those things himself. You have to learn the hard way, not be pulled out before you see the consequences.

Exactly. In the parable of the good Samaritan, the man ended up paying for weeks of housing and medical attention to the guy he found on the road. Never once was it mentioned him wanting to be paid back.

That being said, I am a shitty person so if I was OP I would be pissed as all hell and want my money back.

I'm an occasional Uber driver (i.e., want to go on vacation, want to buy something cool but not budgetted, I'll uber a bit to pay for it).

On a decent night, I'll bring home $200+. When someone vomits in my car, I just lost all the wages that I could have earned. In a sense, you aren't just paying for the cleaning, but you are also paying for the lost wages. I can run home and get out my little carpet cleaner, but it is still going to be wet for the next 12 hours no matter what I do. And cleaning or not, the smell sticks for a day or two.

Uber isn't going to eat the cost of this unless it is CLEARLY fraud.

And the folks that complain to Uber and say they absolutely positively didn't ralph in the back of someone's car -- even with dashcams picking it up? Far far far outweigh the few asshole drivers that will defraud you. I have had half a dozen attempts to claim that I tried to defraud someone. I also had video. I'm now down to 4.86 stars almost ENTIRELY from assholes that get angry they get charged when they ruined my night (to Uber, anything less than 5 stars is doing something wrong...never ever rate someone less than 5 stars unless they tried to kill you...and not just well, he sorta attempted to murder me but had second thoughts...no, 5 stars unless you are bleeding and had to have EMS revive you). Folks get angry that they are charged after ruining an independent business persons chance of paying their rent.

I rate drivers less than five stars all the time if they’re driving in a not safe way. This has happened to me so many times recently- driver doing 60 in a 35, zooming around everyone else doing the speed limit? Not cool. Drivers wearing headphones and almost side swiping people, drivers who have to slam on their brakes because they tried to pass someone but couldn’t. These drivers deserve to be rated less than five stars because hopefully they’ll get banned from Uber and maybe won’t almost kill other unsuspecting passengers??

I rate everyone who doesn’t almost kill me five stars, even if they’re annoying or their car smells bad (common), because 🤷🏻‍♀️

As someone on the spectrum, I'd almost expect others to get the sarcasm and hyperbole.

I guess I was mistaken.

The point I'm making is that too many people think 4 stars is 'better than average' so they can just give this. Nope. 5 stars is 'average' in Uber parlance. Should it be? As a researcher that is in the middle of analyzing a huge survey...the way they deal with it is annoying. And I know too many others that use this approach -- doctors offices often have surveys. Car dealerships. Other service industry. All seem to have gotten in their mind that 'anything less than the maximum is bad and punishable'.

Unless someone is blatantly doing something wrong, just give them 5-stars. I do this because I want extra money and it is a game to me. 90% of the people driving full-time? Nah...this is their livelihood and they really have few other options. Talking to a friend that is disabled and its the only job they can get right now that pays...got a 3-star rating because they didn't take the bags out of the trunk and to the airport. Well...if only he had legs to do so (I mean he does, but he leaves them off when he is driving!)

Perhaps it is splitting hairs and I'm sorry if this offends you or bursts your independence bubble. An independent business person has a business they own and control. An Uber driver, and most taxi drivers, is a person who contracts with a business to do work. The business sets the compensation rate. Though you are independent in that you can choose your hours.
The real difference is that the business can pitch one independent contractor against another and they have much less overhead in terms of insurance, taxes, minimum wage, scheduling, ect.

I didn't know there was a distinction. I have a friend that runs a franchise, he cannot set rates and has to follow all the rules of the business he has franchised under. He pays a bond and a monthly fee...in exchange, they do their insurance, the pay roll and otherwise. I guess he is not a business owner.

Me? I have to pay insurance. I set my own schedule. I work occasionally collaboratively with other 'contractors', I guess, but most often we are in competition with each other -- not the company. I set my compensation -- I tell the company what I'm willing to work for. I will also tell my clients that I offer specific services, some offered by Uber, some not...and Uber has upheld that they cannot tell us we cannot do these things nor can they interfere. Recently, I had a client want to do a 100 mile trip...according to Uber, I can negotiate with the passenger for the price. In this case, I can tell them that in addition to the price they are being charged by Uber, I can request a cash amount for return to service. I.e., 100 miles would take me out of state where I am not insured to pick up commercially -- but my insurance covers so long as my trip started within boundary. This means, I would essentially make half the money as I have to drive home empty. Which then, I get to negotiate the price.

And with this, technically, I can negotiate ANY price...it just isn't wise to do so as passengers will probably cancel. But I can. It is in our handbooks, even though they strongly discourage it.

Anyhoo, I'm glad you let me know I'm not running a business. I'm glad there is a strong and legal distinction between the two and it isn't just something you have strong feelings about.

The point is, it is an artificial distinction for folks to feel better about themselves.

I am an educational psychologist by trade. I fix education so folks like you can do your job better. I've owned three business...one a failure, one a wash, and one that left me with enough to not worry about retirement (but I still have 20 years before I can do so!). The same skills I used in running these businesses are the same skills I use in this one. The federal gov't taxes me the same as if I owned a business.

I do Uber because I got burned out on the consulting life -- I want to come home and not think about statistics, or gov't policy, or otherwise...most of my consulting was working with politicians on strategies to fix their positions and a few years ago? Shit just got to heated and I decided I hated this world. So I do Uber instead. And other than not having to get into political debates with folks that just hired me because I am the expert and they then get angry that the person that trained to know what the fuck they were saying is telling the guy that never trained in this area that they were wrong? It is largely the same skillset.

So honestly, these distinctions are there so that folks can tell themselves they are better than someone else. And there was ABSOLUTELY no reason to correct me on this distinction other than you wanted to let me know that I needed to stop feeling so good about myself and others need to realize this as well. As a teacher, you should be building people up, and not tearing them down.

Everyone does stupid things sometimes, and a LOT of people have, at some point in their lives, been sufficiently drunk that they could have gotten into serious trouble if someone didn't step in to help.

I'm all for letting people learn their own lessons, but there's no telling what could have happened here that might have been totally disproportionate to what the guy did wrong. OP didn't have to help, but he did, and he's a good person for it.

While i understand your point, this shouldn't be a thing anymore, most people have enough information to understand that they WILL fuck up if they get too drunk. If a person can't control herself about drinking, well, that's a problem, and this person should start working on it.

Btw, i'm 19 and i've never done something like that, while i have a lot of friends who did, i guess i just saw how much shit can happen and avoided it, that is my point.

Oh I definitely agree with you, and I've never had more than a couple pints of cider myself for practical/moral reasons. If someone is irresponsible to that point and things go badly wrong, it's going to be at least in part their fault.

I just don't think that means someone else shouldn't step in to help them before potentially-life-ruining consequences occur.

Lol I dunno maybe I'm just speaking as someone who doesn't have £230 to lose by being a good Samaritan, with rent and bills etc. If I was well off and had money to spare then maybe my views would be more compassionate but if I can barely afford to keep myself alive then risking something like what happened to OP is a no-go for me personally. Nothing to do with socialism or capitalism in my opinion.

Ah yes, I see what you're saying now. I agree with that. There's certainly a stigma with alcohol, but it only seems to be when it when someone is 'too drunk' to the point of vomiting or passing out etc. Before that, people are just 'having fun' (for example), but indeed every drug user is tarred with the same brush.

Yeah, he could’ve raped, killed, or beaten someone then gone to prison (a high number of these crimes happen when the man is under the influence). It’s a tragedy whenever a man has to suffer the consequences of his own actions.

Ask for evidence of the throw up and valet receipts, and the drop off address. Where I’m from Uber drivers are being shown to be falsifying damage to their cars by drunk people. Throwing crisps (potatoes chips) over the back seat and charging £30 for a valet

A friend of mine used to Uber full time and he would take advantage of drunk people like this. One girl got a small amount of mud on the carpet in the back seat. He was able to clean it up with a napkin, but he reported it to Uber as dog poop and said it was all over the back seat and floor of his car. I'm not sure if they even asked for pictures, but they charged the passenger $150 for it. He would also take longer routes when driving home drunk people.

Can you change the route provided by uber and thus the cost? What does it matter to the rider when they see what they are booking ahead of time and pay ahead of time? If you don't like the cost, don't book the trip.

It is. I drive Lyft. You're better off getting them where they want to go as fast as possible so you can get more rides in. If you want to milk a few more dollars out of people, take the freeway or another route that's the same ETA but an extra mile or two.

Yeah, I was thinking it's way more profitable to get an extra fare then to bilk your current one. Isn't there a base price for Uber so really you just have to do do an extra run and it would make you more than scamming your riders.

From what I understand, short routes and quantity makes the money. Not taking forever for a single ride.

In australia if the driver purposely takes a longer route you can report it and uber will refund you the difference almost immediately based on what the shorter route would have been. so i don’t think there would be any advantage to scamming people, unless they still get paid and uber refunds you themselves?

I have a question and I'm curious if you can answer. When I was interning in DC, MGM had their grand opening for their casino in Maryland and we tried to go. It took us an hour to get half way there and we saw online that it had reach capacity already, so we changed the destination and went home, which took less than ten minutes, for reference. Since are start point and end point we're the same we didn't get charged anything, I guess because the app figured we had gone 0 miles. Did the driver still get paid?

Well, it can happen, but you can also make a complaint to Uber and get a refund for the extra amount. I had a situation where the driver "started the trip" about 1~2km away from where i was waiting for him to arrive, it costed about twice the price that it should, i managed to get a refund for that just by sending a complaint using the app.

I think starting the trip before you're actually riding is different since you're not being serviced at the time. I had a driver take route that was just over twice as long as the regular route and uber only credited $5 dollars back. I know those extra 20 miles didn't add $5 bucks to the trip. It was the first time that happened so I wasn't as bothered.

I have friends that aren't the best human beings. A few reasons for me include: Being friends since childhood(gives you a different perspective on the person), them having never wronged me personally, and past times when they've been there for me. I'm probably loyal to a fault though but to each their own.

Pretty sure this happened to me one night after drinking. A normally 8 mile ride was somehow like 13 miles. Nowadays it would've been like an extra $1, but back then the rates were WAY higher and it was 2AM so I think I was in a 3x surge or something like that. On top of that, the drive was like a maximum of 2 or 3 turns total. Ended up contesting it with Lyft and was denied. Put it on twitter and tagged them and they found in my favor and credited me back like $15 or something.

LA area. I guess I undersold it, probably more like $3-5 maybe? I don't use Uber/Lyft much anymore, but I took a 20ish mile ride from a bar in DTLA to my house and it was like $9, so I kinda based it on that haha.

We've been friends since childhood. He has always been like a brother to me. Also, he wasn't always like that. He joined the US Marines and was deployed twice. After about 6 years overseas, he came home with no fucks left. I've been trying to help him pull himself together for a while now. He's made some progress. He is now married with a son and he's doing pretty well.

Just got a $150 “cleaning fee” a week ago or so. No one threw up. I requested evidence and they sent a picture the driver “took” at the time. Requested them to look at the meta data for time of the picture and data. They responded with a $150 refund and $20 credit to my account so seems like the driver had tried something shady and they caught on

OP judging from your story that guy seemed to have way over indulged so my guess is that the throw up was a real thing. It stinks this situation bit you in the ass a bit but you did do the right thing and I hope the karma gods reward you for it. I tip my hat to you kind sir.

My friend threw up into a bag in an Uber a few years ago and I made sure it wasn't anywhere on the seat before we left - I asked to be dropped off early as I had a feeling shed throw up again and it was a close enough walk from where we were anyway.
Dude followed us home and demanded £50 cash. I got an Uber because I didn't carry cash. I said to charge my Uber account - a few people I knew told me that it happened to them before.
We got home, one of my friends flatmates went out to pay the dude £50 cause I just wanted this guy off my back. He came back saying there was no one there when he was there just a minute ago. My account wasn't charged either.
Haven't used my Uber account since.

If I was the drunk guy I would be embarrased and grateful for you. If you told me they charged for vomit, I would totally give you the money and buy you a beer. He most likely blacked out and woke up in his bed without a clue as to how he got home. I would reach out to him.

You paid for puke that didn't happen. It's a common uber scam, and this driver definitely knew you weren't there to prove he didn't, but he could charge you for it. Demand pictures of said puke and cleaning receipts from uber.

It's a major scam going on with uber and lyft right now and how easier is it, when the guy paying for the ride isn't even there. As the Uber driver would have been aware. If you pay that much for something, is it really out of the ordinary to ask for proof? receipts of said cleaning being done? Or are all you idiots so happy to part with your money?

In order for the uber driver to get paid for it, they must submit photos to UBER, so ask for those photos. Or just be happy you parted with your money. I see why most millennials have nothing saved.

I drove for Uber for a while. A guy got his cousin an Uber to her house literally five minutes away. It was her 21st birthday, so you know what state she was in. In those five minutes, she puked. Since she tried directing the puke out the window, it got on not only the seat, seatbelt, and floor, but also on the door, window, and exterior of my vehicle. I couldn't do any more rides that night, and I had a lot of cleaning to do. Damn straight I charged for that. Drivers have to provide pictures for messes. Not saying scams don't happen, but I do know pukes do happen.

My neighbours had just bought a brand new mini van. The wife was so excited. They are a lovely caring couple. The husband is out driving somewhere at night and sees an old man clearly intoxicated and stumbling. He gets the man in the minivan and tries to get to tell him where he lives. It took a long time to understand where he lived and get some help from his neighbours to get him inside. Drives home and wife notices he is outside for a long time. He is scrubbing the pee from the front seat of their brand new minivan.

And sorry I have to tell this story too. Same couple. Out for a walk and they come across a turtle. They decide to take him to a nearby creek. Feeling pretty good about themselves, they are outside finishing their walk when a neighbour drives up to them and asks if they have seen a turtle. Her pet Pierre has gone on a walkabout as he tends to do. They look at each other and say nope, haven't seen a turtle. Then they rush over to the creek with flashlights as it is now 11 at night and try to find this turtle. No luck. Bon Voyage Pierre!

I don't use Uber often.. but don't you have to put the location to where they're going up front? And it generally gives you a price range within a few dollars of the charge? I get the cleaning fee would be unexpected.. but I assumed the fare itself should have been known?

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Again I don't use Uber often (only when traveling) and have never ordered for someone else so that my very well be a feature I'm just unfamilar with.

Yeah Uber shows you the cost of the ride before you get one since you can choose between pool, Uber X and the other uber services and those are usually priced different. Also you would have to look at the app to see when the car arrived/what it looked like and the license plate of it so you know what you're getting into unless you don't do that.

Yeah Uber shows you the cost of the ride before you get one since you can choose between pool, Uber X and the other uber services and those are usually priced different. dfaw

You don’t have to put in your destination when you call an Uber. You can, but don’t have to. I feel like it would have made sense in this case, but if that’s not how you normally use the app I could see it not being thought of.

Yeah, there's a reason a whole group of other people didnt decide to pay for an uber for an unknown amount for a complete stranger. I feel bad for OP because he had good intentions but this whole scenario was asking for trouble. next time, buy the guy a coffee so he can sober up enough to sort his own shit.

Last time I did something like this, it was a friend, and he lives kind of near my house. So I called an Uber (actually a competitor but it's the same idea) and put in his address.

I left him in the back seat and called shotgun, I don't know why, I'm just used to it and he was very drunk (it's pretty normal in my country, I do it even with proper taxi etc).

He's acting drunk and saying silly things with the voice of a man you know can barely stand up. I was kind of embarrassed, but no big deal.

Then he burps and makes a strange sound. Then he says: "Hey, driver, I know what you're thinking, but I will not puke in you car". With the voice of a man who's just about to puke.

Luckily, he was able to hold out just enough to throw up on the street right in front of his building. I had to help him up to his sofa and went back home walking, because in the mean time the sun was up and the morning looked pretty.

To anyone considering this commentor's advice; do not do this in the US (unless your drunken compadre really does need medical attention, of course). This could put an unwitting drunken youngster in serious debt. I would hate to sober up to find a several hundred dollar hospital bill waiting for me.

Yeah, my freshman year of college I ended up meeting a few of my friends on the way home from separate parties. One friend was puking and falling over drunk, while the rest were just drunk. They were all pretty new to drinking, while I had already seen my fair share of nights passed out over the toilet, so I decided I would carry her back and make sure she made it through the night as easy as possible. We got her back to the campus bus stop, where there are the standard 2-3 cop cars waiting there. The police look, point, and chuckle to themselves, not really caring all that much. Her friends now start freaking out and demanded we call an ambulance. I told them she would be okay, but didn't push back much because I didn't want to be wrong and be the one to blame if she didn't end up okay. They end up walking over to the police and ask that they call her an ambulance. We called her parents and met them at the hospital. They were absolutely pissed, and I'm still not sure if they were pissed that their daughter got as drunk as she did, or if they knew the thousands we just cost them/her.

Last I heard, maybe 4 years later, she was still paying off that ambulance ride. I'm glad my friends just draw dicks on my face and laugh at me when I get too drunk...

He meant bills. A bill for the ambulance, a bill for the triage nurse, a bill for the person who walks you back to the room, a bill for the doctor that sees you for a minute, and probably some bills from some technicians, the janitor and a secretary or two.

I had a run in with cops who asked to see my insurance and then asked if I needed to go to the hospital. Living in the US, I continued to say no (even after them telling me I could die) but they did respect my wishes.

I'm not sure how it works but it seems like no one will force you as long as you're able to say no

Any more detail to this story? The idea you have to think about essential healthcare and money together particularly for emergencies is something I am so glad doesn't concern me, if I'm sick I take my health card and go to one of the doctors that dont charge extra and I don't have to pay a cent.

Edit: spelling

Any more detail to this story? The idea you have to think about essential healthcare and money together particularly for emergencies is something I am so glad doesn't concern me, if in sick I take my health card and go to one of the doctors that dont charge extra and I don't have to pay a cent.

I was drunk and hit my head pretty hard. Someone must've seen and called 911, because some cops came and found me and asked if I was okay. I was bleeding a little, so they were probably a little freaked out. I know the issue here is serious underlying damage, but the gamble is to either pay 3k USD to accept the ride and treatment, or take it easy and hope for the best.

It's a gigantic gamble that more than likely gets people killed, but that's the situation... The average person cannot readily afford such a bill.

The amount of lives lost to this kinda thing.. In Australia they send out poo jars to over 50s every 2 years or so with a reply paid envolope, as a test for colon cancer, then they contact you if they find anything, it's not perfect but it's super convenient and saves lives. And yes you can get most of the colon stuff done under public healthcare. Same goes with yearly skin cancer checks, even if you don't have a suspicious spot you're worried about.

That's such a shitty situation, there's a lot of great stuff in the US but I don't think I'd consider healthcare one of them.. It is getting better though yeah?

We had ours removed after it was first introduced too btw, sure it was 30+ years ago but only took them a few years to put it straight back in again, I'm sure many European countries had the same issues we did getting it off the ground.

To legally be able to refuse treatment, you have to be lucid and able to understand the consequences of refusing treatment. A drunk person may not meet the requirements. Restraints and sedatives may be used if needed. You also can't refuse if you have altered mental status from something like a head injury or diabetic ketoacidosis. If they don't treat you and something bad happens as a result, that opens them to lawsuits. If you can and do refuse treatment, they most likely won't charge you even if they took your blood pressure and such.

If someone else called just because you're drunk and there is nothing actually wrong with you after checking you out, that would likely be different.

I don't work in EMS yet and have just skimmed the textbook, so I may have gotten something slightly wrong, but that should be mostly correct.

What I don't get is the legal basis to enter into a contract someone without their permission. Like, can I carry a necklace or similar (like diabetics) that says if I appear drunk or otherwise not lucid, I still don't want their help? I would be making that decision beforehand, while obviously lucid.

It just seems like theft if you have a couple of beers, cut your knee, and your mate calls an ambulance - suddenly you're on the hook for thousands, but obviously don't need that as you can just go home and apply some dermabond or something. It feels like theft... and there is, as far as I can tell, no legal precedent outside of that profession for someone else to do the same thing.

Like, if your house has is flooding slowly and you've gone to the store to buy a tool to turn the stopcock... but a plumber comes by, sees it, and turns off the stopcock, then sends you a bill for $10,000 you don't have to pay it, right?

You're over thinking this. You would have to be so black out drunk you don't even know your own name. So drunk that leaving you is a liability. If paramedics find you in this situation, they actually call the doctor at the emergency room and say, "man this guy is so wasted we think he might die if we leave him." The doctor then gives an order to transport or leave the patient. You got THAT drunk. You made that choice. This is the system society has set up. It's not the medics or docs fault. This is human life. In our society we have decided it is important.

My suggestion if this is such a concern would be to consult a lawyer and have him prepare a legal letter for EMS. Then have a medical alert bracelet that says "look in my back pocket." In the back pocket would have your letter saying you refuse all care and transport.

Also, you don't get a bill "for thousands" unless you're transported by an ambulance to the hospital. Also, I don't think the rates are truely in the thousands unless it's something really serious.

This idea that you can be forced to go because you had a beer is silly.

You're over thinking this. You would have to be so black out drunk you don't even know your own name. So drunk that leaving you is a liability. If paramedics find you in this situation, they actually call the doctor at the emergency room and say, "man this guy is so wasted we think he might die ." The doctor then gives an order to transport or leave the patient.

This is a rough estimate of my company. We are located in the U.S. And we generally charge around 900 dollars + 13-14$ a mile and add in costs of supplies such as meds, cariac monitor, pillow cases, and blankets.

and

Again in the State of Connecticut, the Department of Public Health sets maximum allowable rates for ambulance services. In 2018, the maximum rate for care and transport by a Basic Life Support ambulance was $743.00, while the maximum rate for Specialty Care Transport (limited here to ground transport) was $1614.00 The state also made provision for ancillary charges, such as Per Mile Charges ($18.08/mile).

So that's around a thousand plus - for a basic ambulance, with little to no specialist care going on.

Generally ambulances in the US do not charge if you are not transported to the hospital. Some may charge a small fee if services are rendered and transport is not performed but this is the exception not the rule. The only time they would force you is if you were unable to make decisions for yourself due to being so drunk you were unsafe to be left alone.

This happened to me. $500 ambulance ride and $200 ER visit. 19 year old me had to open a credit card just to pay them off and collections tried coming after me claiming I didn't pay up even though I did.

Do not call an ambulance in any country. That ambulance could have been needed for a real life-threatening situation.

Call the police instead; they will sort him out. I did that once when I saw a pair of feet sticking out of shrubbery and I wasn't inclined to poke around to find out whether it was a corpse or a drunk.

The person would likely be charged for the ambulance ride still. In Canada I believe it costs about ~$700 for an ambulance ride, and that generally isn't covered unless you have additional private insurance. The guy was drunk, it's not like he needed an IV and hospital stay.

This has been debunked multiple times. Canada doesn’t have longer wait times than the US except when you want to see the best highest rated oncologist specialist or something, yeah it might take you awhile to get in, but ER wait times in the US are about the same. This is a common theme in republican arguments against affordable healthcare and it’s simply not true, but people eat it up and regurgitate it because it makes sense in their minds.

ERs aren't first come first served. They go based on need. If you're actively dying or something that would cause serious permanent debilitation but not life threatening, you get to go first. If you have something like stomach pain, then you can wait a while until they have the resources to treat you.

Probably some other guy making a reddit post about how he got so screwed up drunk after his buddies convinced him to take more shots, someone stole his new phone, and he hazily remembers somebody getting him an uber and waking up later at home, with little memory of getting there, and thanks to the kind soul who helped him, and where can he send the pay back money too.

Damn man, sorry to hear that... if it makes you feel any better I lost about the same for a much dumber reason.

I got off the bus one day and a guy asked me if I could help him - his boss had given him a cheque and he didn't have his ID to cash it at the bank - he asked if I could give him $25 to take a cab home and back, at which point he would cash the cheque and pay me back. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy in a tough spot, so I said sure... but I had an alternate approach - why don't I just cash the cheque FOR him, and keep a part of it for my trouble. He was fine with it. $250 cheque and I'd keep $25. So I cashed it at the ATM, gave him his part, and that was that.

Unsurprisingly the cheque bounced a few days later. I called his dad (he gave me his name and showed me his dad in the phone book, this was early 2000's pre-smartphone) and I heard a loud sigh on the other end of the phone, he said he hadn't heard from him in a long time and he didn't really live at home any more because of his drug problem. He apologized and said I should probably just forget about the money and move on with my life. I kept the cheque as a reminder not to do stupid things.

That sucks but you did a good thing. A few weeks I ordered an Uber for this girls mom that I know. Girl walks her mom out of the bar and gets her in the Uber. The mom ends up pissing herself in the back seat before the Uber driver can take off. Girl pulls her mother out of the car and ends up giving me the keys to her car and I took her home. The Uber driver cancelled the trip and only charged me $5. I was beyond grateful for that.

The amount of people who get drunk to the point of being unable to walk and end up just fine means that he probably didn't save someone's life by paying for his Uber. If it's life and death, the call is to 911, not Uber. Drunk pedestrians rarely get hit by vehicles despite their complete lack of respect for and awareness of the 3000 pound bullets flying towards them.

You are disagreeing with facts. A single isolated incident doesn't change facts. Of course some people are going to die in every situation of life, that doesnt change probability. People die in Uber rides too.

I recently decided I am done being good, kind, and nice to anyone. I found out someone at work who made $16 more an hour than me constantly needed something and I gave it to them like an idiot and I’m no longer going to do anything like that.

I genuinely feel sorry for you. You appear to be afflicted with one of the most devastating conditions known to man, selfishness. The only cure is to foster an attitude of compassionate generosity, something I myself sorely lacked until I married my wife, who taught me kindness (by example) every single day of our time together.

this actually happened to me while i was in a uber with 2 friends and then one of their friends i didn’t know very well puked on the ground in the uber i was charged for it but my friends dad paid the fee luckily

I like the responses your getting. "Oh you still did a good thing though" oh really? Its a good thing to encourage drunks to keep drinking because "hey it'll work itself out". This guy cant get home by himself, and when someone does save his ass he throws up in the uber. I know its cruel but sometimes people need to be miserable so society can learn a lesson. Wiping a childs ass is helpful, wiping an adults ass is harmful.

This is why I will never buy people ubers. I've had several customers get mad that I won't use my own phone, account, and credit card to order them ubers. They say it's bad customer service. Not sure if they have no idea how uber works or what but I'd rather they think I'm a shitty employee than end up paying $230 because of shit like this.

While playing Red Dead Predemtion I walked into the Valentine bar to play a few hands of hold'em, little did I know I would bump into someone on their way out. As then NPC turned toward Aurthor and became angered I preemptively targeted him and pressed the agree button. To my surprise this lead to me agreeing to the mans duel I didnt see myself getting into until after a few hands of cards. With no choice Aurthor and the NCP made their way outside to duel. As both characters stood their the NPC suddenly feel over and passed out drunk from his time in the bar. So being a good outlaw I picked the man up walked him to the inn down the road bought a room and threw him in the bed.

Not to add salt to the wound... but the dude probably tanked uber ranking as well. But good for you for being a bro, I’m sure the dude really appreciated it the next morning and maybe he will pay it forward to someone else 💜

Even though this didn't end up the way you'd hoped, you still did a good thing and I'm sure the karma will find it's way back to you. Maybe someday someone will help you when you're really down and out. Props to you for helping someone in need in any case OP.

Same exact thing happened to me. I Ubered with him to his hotel and gave the driver a nice big tip for dealing with him, and he still charged a $150 cleaning fee for when he almost threw up out of the window.

That’s shit luck! If you Uber account is attached to a credit card then call the card company, explain that Uber are ripping you off without providing evidence, block further transactions from Uber and cancel your Uber account. Open another one on another card a day later, then you’re a decent human being who hasn’t been robbed by some drunk **** :)

150 dollars for vomiting ina taxi??? In the UK you're looking at £50, even with the pound being royalty fucked by Brexit, we're still doing all right when it comes to important issues like taxi vomiting. (I've vomited in three taxis I can remember, maybe if it had cost £150 each time I'd have learnt my lesson by now)

Haha.. never help people. Did you read the other front page article? A woman died in Baltimore after being stabbed to death and her necklace stolen after she rolled her window down and gave hard earned cash to beggars. She is dead now, they are working the streets. Stay alive, fuck giving.

What are the cops going to do? Was a crime committed? He made a decision to call an Uber for a super drunk stranger without even considering how much it may cost, and the worst case scenario played out. It sucks but there you go.

Don't call 911 on drunk people unless they are unresponsive. If someone is standing up, they aren't dying of alcohol poisoning. You'd cost the guy several thousands in ambulance/hospital bills plus a possible public intoxication charge. If you're that worried about being sued, just keep walking. Don't destroy someone's life.

He ordered an apparent drunk individual an uber in an attempt to help. He acted on good faith. He's not expected to, nor required to know what that individuals condition is health wise. There's no issue of any liability.